On the other hand, he gave sufficient evidence of his Messiahship to convince any humble inquirer —
[The testimony borne to him by angels at his birth, the descent of the Holy Ghost upon him at his baptism, the numberless miracles wrought by him in his life, the wonders attendant on his death, his resurrection from the dead, his ascension to heaven, his sending of the Holy Ghost on his Disciples, and all the miracles wrought by them in his name, these were evidences which an humble mind could not withstand. Besides, to those who felt their need of a Saviour, there was everv thing which was suited to their necessities. A mere man would not have sufficed for them : they needed a Saviour who was God as well as man : they needed an atonement of infinite value ; a righteousness fully adequate to all the demands of God's holy law, and capable of being imputed to them for their acceptance before God. They needed not only the sacrifice of Christ on earth, but also his intercession in heaven ; yea, and his all-powerful agency, too, as the Head of vital influence to his Church and people : in a word, they needed precisely such
d Isai. liii. 2, 3. e Isai. viii. 14, 15.
a Saviour as he had represented himself to be : and, though the whole relating to him was involved in mystery which they could not comprehend, they saw in it nothing but what was honourable to the character of God, and nothing but what was conducive to the happiness of man. Hence they were content to receive the Lord Jesus as their Saviour, and to found all their hopes of happiness on him alone.
Thus in him was found precisely such a test as the world needed : and]
The use of this test was seen in,
III. The actual effect of his advent —
Mark the effect of his advent :
1. Whilst he himself was on earth —
[This discrimination of character was seen from the first moment that he entered on his ministry. Never did more gracious words proceed from the lips of man, than those which were uttered by him in his first public discourse at Nazareth ; insomuch, that " all who heard them bare him witness, and wondered f:" yet, upon his reminding them of two events in their history, the sending of the Prophet Elijah to be sup- ported by a Sidonian (a heathen), and not an Israelitish widow ; and the healing of a leprosy, by the Prophet Elisha, in the person of Naaman, a Syrian, and not of any of the lepers that were in Israel ; they were instantly fired with such indignation and wrath, that " they thrust him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong," and destroy himg. Now, what was there in his discourse to produce so instanta- neous a change? The Jews considered themselves as exclu- sively the objects of God's regard ; and they could not endure the thought that he should have mercy in reserve for the Gentiles : and the suggestion of this was in their minds an evil worthy of death. Again: when our blessed Lord wrought miracles in confirmation of his word, many, instead of yielding to conviction, took occasion, from the very works which they could not but acknowledge to be miraculous, to accuse him of a confederacy with the devil : and, in the very passage before us, they made his restoring a man to sight on the Sabbath- day a ground rather of accusation against him, as a sinner, than of acknowledging him to be, what he really was, the true Messiah. And to his latest hour they evinced the same spirit, calling out for a sentence of death against him ; when his very Judge declared him innocent, and not a person upon earth could be found to convict him of the slightest sin. Nor was it